


Be Mine Already

by cheeedddaaarrr



Category: Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (Movies), Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling, Sausage Party (2016)
Genre: Actor Tom Riddle, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, BAMF Harry Potter, Crack Treated Seriously, F/M, Flirty Tom Riddle, Harry is a Bread Bun, Harry loves Tom, M/M, Magical Shop Owner Harry Potter, Newt is a Cinnamon Roll, POV Tom Riddle, Percival is also a Sausage, Possessive Tom Riddle, Ray of Sunshine Harry Potter, Smitten Harry Potter, Tom is a Sausage, Tom love Harry, smitten tom riddle
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-08
Updated: 2020-09-08
Packaged: 2021-03-06 19:28:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 17,726
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26354212
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cheeedddaaarrr/pseuds/cheeedddaaarrr
Summary: [ONE SHOT]London is going mad!Curious events have been happening throughout the city - a foreign dignitary going missing only to come back with husband and child, a superstar turning into a gigantic monster every time her heart uncontrollably races, the undersecretary regressing into a child, and reports of phone calls to the past?At the center of it all is the den of Prongslet's Extraordinary Bazaar of Love. A shop that claims to sell items that will solve the love problems of their customers.--------TMRHP--------At age twenty-eight, Tom Marvolo Riddle Jr., a brilliant actor who is best known for playing villainous roles and who was at the peak of his career, was bored. But when his vacation back to London had ended with him crossing paths with the mysterious shop owner, Harry Potter, he is introduced to a new world beyond his imagination.For a charismatic and manipulative actor who is used to have everything go according to his plan, what will become of his encounters with the extraordinary shop owner with a heart of gold?
Relationships: Fleur Delacour/Bill Weasley, Harry Potter/Tom Riddle, Harry Potter/Tom Riddle | Voldemort, Harry Potter/Voldemort, Hedwig & Harry Potter, Hermione Granger/Ron Weasley, Luna Lovegood & Harry Potter, Luna Lovegood/Rolf Scamander, One-sided Draco Malfoy/Harry Potter - Relationship, Original Percival Graves/Newt Scamander, Sirius Black/Remus Lupin, Tom Riddle & Severus Snape, past Remus Lupin/Nymphadora Tonks - Relationship
Comments: 4
Kudos: 173
Collections: Tomarry Reverse Big Bang 2020





	Be Mine Already

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Zombu7](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Zombu7/gifts).



> The moment I read "The Ultimate Love Bazaar" by Lǐyú Wán Yī , I was inspired by the concept of Harry Potter being a shop owner. Add that with how desperate I was to somehow incorporate the wonderful artwork of @Zombu7 for the Reverse Tomarry Big Bang, this fictional mess of an alternate universe was born. Although our favorite pair becoming anthropomorphic items ended up not being the center of the story. So sorry for those expecting this to be only focused on Breadbun!Harry and Sausage!Tom. 
> 
> Also, I promise to proofread this as soon as possible so forgive me for the loopholes and grammar errors. Thank you for your patience!

**_It's been a three years since I had met Harry Potter. And in all that time I've known him it peaks my curiosity on how the man hasn't changed at all. I have discovered one thing though, no matter what happens he has always remained resolute when it comes to his principles. Never has he faltered in his desire to help those who need it. And in his case, most of his encounters are related to love._ **

**_His fixation on love has always been strange thing to me. It's not as though his ‘skills’ would not work just as brilliantly in another department. And yet he has stubbornly focused on dealing with issues regarding the heart._ **

**_If we compare on just how different we have led our lives despite both of us starting at the worst environment, it simply stirs my interest. Despite all the mystery that shrouds his history before being the shopkeeper, Harry has shown instances of having been abused, most likely when he was child... Just like how I was. Both of us having been starved of affection and abandoned by those supposed to be blood. But while I clamored to acquire power and fame to put down all those who failed me, Harry Potter had instead showered love to humanity._ **

**_How absolutely precious he is... Every time I see him lavish his clients with compassion, I am struck by this desire to taint his purity and shatter his beliefs. But then again how far must I have fallen that the world has started to look different whenever I am with him._ **

**_And in the end, all my plots and attempts to manipulate Harry was all for naught. All this time I had been thinking that I would be the one to change him and make him realize how futile his efforts are and that humanity will always be inherently cruel but it appears that I was the one changing._ **

**_If I had been told just how much my life would be affected by a singular man when I was younger and full of hatred I would have scoffed at them in disbelief. But looking back to the very first time I had laid eyes on Harry Potter, it was in that moment I had begun to question my own reality and recognize the potential of it having so much more..._ **

* * *

Tom was elegantly sitting on the sofa of a stylishly furbished high-class hotel room, watching the news while drinking wine when his phone rang. Taking the opportunity to grab some food to accompany his drinks, Tom was walking towards the kitchen when he finally answered the phone. "Good evening, Snape."

 _"Riddle? Where the hell are you? The party had already begun hours ago and you still haven't arrived. Dumbledore has been pestering me to keep an eye out for you as though I've got nothing else better to do!"_ Severus Snape, his snarky and surly talent agent said in an aggravated tone.

Grabbing the charcuterie plate provided by the hotel, Tom perched on the high stool near the kitchen counter and took little bites of the meat before responding, "Do inform the old man I won't be attending his horrendous Christmas party."

"That old man is the company president, Riddle. And you say that as though attending this blasted party was optional. I'm pretty sure Dumbledore made attendance a mandatory. So tell me where you are while I’m asking nicely."

Tom was annoyed at having to be reminded of the superiority that Albus Dumbledore still has over him because of his long-term contract in Hogwarts Entertainment Company. For him who had signed the contract at a time when the more tolerable and easily manipulated, Armando Dippet, was president 5 years ago had made his career smooth sailing. But Albus Dumbledore who was more well-known as a director and producer had always disliked him on instinct. Except for that one python incident when Tom was still fresh in the agency, Dumbledore really does not have a legitimate reason to outright antagonize him. Hence, when Dippet resigned and passed the baton to Dumbledore of all people, Tom had to work harder to stay on top of the pyramid and not to let Dumbledore's attempts to bury his talent among the other incompetent actors struggling to get an opportunity to remain on spotlight.

Now five years since then and despite Dumbledore's blatant favoritism to the other talents in the agency, Tom finally has both fame and power as a renowned actor with awards under his belt that he can now retaliate against the old man.

"I'm back at London. For a vacation." Tom finally answered.

An exaggerated gasp could be heard over the phone when Severus skeptically said, _"You?! A vacation?! In the 10 years you have been working in Hogwarts since when did you even willingly took a break? Is there something I should know? Like some kind of scandal coming our way? A hidden lover you've been keeping from the tabloids?"_

"Apparently I'm taking that well deserved break now, Snape. So stop pestering me with questions and leave me alone for the next few weeks. I've already informed Dumbledore's assistant, Miss McGonagall, about this so it is not really a sudden decision on my part."

_"But you've never told me about this, Riddle? What about the casting calls and auditions I've had you scheduled for the upcoming weeks?"_

"I'm already done with my shootings on both the commercial and movie. So you can either turn them down or if they are desperate to put me as part of the cast then they can wait."

_"Fine. You're lucky you are in demand. That and you do deserve a break. I'll leave you be then."_

"Just contact me if they are any pressing issues or emergencies, Snape."

_"Noted. Merry Christmas, Riddle."_

Ending the call, Tom glanced at his near empty glass and plate and decided to grab more wine in the refrigerator when something caught his eye. Gazing out the glass window, Tom stood still in his fiftieth floor room expecting to see only the city lights and glinting stars but instead what he saw was the most peculiar thing.

It was a man. A curly black haired man with round glasses was wearing an adorable and well suited Christmas outfit in a frilly skirt with black tights. However that was not what the only thing that caught his eye. What was strange was that Tom did not spot him located in a room across the building from his. But it was how the captivating man was literally flying on just a broomstick whilst carrying a large sack on his back.

Tom did not know what to think. It's not as though the man was attached to any contraption allowing him to fly except riding the broom. And he did not think he was drunk enough to have imagined such a riveting scenario. Tom had also never believed in the existence of Santa Claus nor did he have any repressed feelings of regrets of never receiving a gift on the particular holiday. On the other hand, if Santa Claus was this distractingly bewitching man then maybe he could reconsider his beliefs.

Tom was frozen still when the other man had caught him staring. And when the two of them had made eye contact, all the man did was smile. His bright green eyes were gleaming in amusement as he waved at Tom. And when the man had flew pass him, Tom noticed a lightning bolt shape scar on his right forehead before the man disappeared from his line of sight.

"How interesting." Tom muttered out loud. Such a curious encounter would have stirred his curiosity. After all not knowing things bothers him more than he lets on. And now becoming aware of an existence of something otherworldly and in which no logical reason could possibly justify? This would certainly be worth his time. Though Tom had plans when he came back to London, such as dealing with his recent status of becoming the heir of the Gaunt family and meeting with potential clients, Tom realized he did not really have much information to go by aside being familiar with the stranger's face.

So when Tom had a business meeting with a work acquaintance in a five star restaurant, he did not expect to find the man he was looking for picking up garbage in the beach nearby.

"Oh Tom! I am absolutely excited to have you endorse our new product! I'll talk to my brother about you signing the contract as soon as possible. Your image is just perfect for our brand." Bellatrix Lestrange said with excitement.

"There is no need to rush, Mrs. Lestrange. I am still on my work break so for now you may contact my agent for the scheduling and further discussions on the contract." Tom said already regretting having accepted her offer.

"I see. But please no need to be so formal, Tom. You may call me, Bella." she said while blatantly flaunting her cleavage at his direction. "And speaking of breaks, do you want to-"

Tom immediately flashed his palm at her to stop, "Mrs. Lestrange," he gave emphasis to her title, "I want you to understand that I have no intention of furthering any sort of relationship with you. If you want me be the model for Black Enterprises then learn to keep things between us professional."

Not seeming to take a hint, she shot him a flirty smile, "Sure you don't, Tom... For now." Sliding her business card at his side of the table, she attempted to whisper seductively which only serve to grate Tom's nerves, "While you are here do call me if you ever need anything, Tom, at any time."

Disgusted at her obvious attempts to seduce him to bed her, Tom did not even dare to touch the card once the woman had left. Had Tom not needed the contract with the Black Enterprises he would have never bothered putting in the effort of acquainting her. It's not as though she was the first woman or even man to proposition him. He knew his face had an effect on people and has even used it to gain favor. But it does not mean that Tom has no standards. Boring and feeble minds such as hers only tend to annoy and disgust Tom.

Tom went out to the restaurant balcony to view the scenery when he caught sight of the one person he had been looking for. From his view in the balcony, it appears that the man was collecting garbage in the beach with a woman with the most distinct bushy hair he has ever seen. "Hmm... Is that Undersecretary Granger?" Tom guessed to be the companion of his mysterious stranger. Turning to the side, he asked the waitress passing by, "Is there some sort of event ongoing on the beach?"

Blushing at his sudden attention, the young waitress responded, "Oh... Uhm… The owner usually posts monthly beach clean-up to invite willing volunteers to pick up trash in exchange for baked goods. I guess it's happening today."

"I see... Where do I sign?" Tom asked as he looked back and observed the two at the beach. Granger seemed to be flustered at the attention that the other man was giving her as he placed some sort of necklace on her neck.

After signing up to do the clean-up at the beach to a star-struck manager of the restaurant, Tom removed his suit jacket and rolled up his shirt sleeves as he grabbed the sunglasses and cap at his car to at least obscure his face given that no one ever expects the prideful actor to do such things.

When Tom arrived at the beach, he observed that the two appeared to have just finished their conversation as he saw the captivating stranger gently pat the woman’s shoulder and walk away, leaving her to ponder on her own as she began toying with the necklace at her throat.

Taking the opportunity to finally talk to the man and ease his curiosity, Tom approached him after a few long strides and greeted him with a charming smirk, "Good afternoon."

When the other man raised his head to make eye contact, Tom was almost distracted by the unique shade of green of his eyes. "Afternoon." the stranger replied with a soft smile. Looking more closely at the man, had Tom not been sure before, his notable green eyes and lightning bolt scar certainly eased any second thoughts he may have had.

Not wasting anytime with further pleasantries, Tom bluntly asked, "This may be an odd question but I have to ask. Nine days ago late in the night were you using a broomstick to fly in the sky while wearing a Christmas themed outfit?"

Without missing a beat, the green eyed man responded with a grin, "Yes."

Huh. Tom had expected him to lie or at least attempt do some sort of cover up to justify the oddity of their encounter that night. Well honesty he could still work with and now clearly amused, Tom said, "Not even going to bother to hide the fact that you were doing something that people would deem impossible unless there has been a new innovation I was not aware of."

"Don't worry you have without a doubt still kept yourself up to date to the most latest news. Although, I'm very sorry if I had bothered you when I was flying pass by your hotel."

"I was not really bothered but I am curious just who exactly are you?"

"Harry Potter. A magical being turned ordinary shopkeeper."

He would have normally scoffed in disbelief had he not witnessed such magic firsthand. But the confirmation of something greater certainly opens up many new possibilities and avenues for Tom. Questions flooded his mind but instead of barraging the man with inquiries he said, "You are anything but ordinary, Harry. Though, you have quite a common name for someone destined for greatness. Just like mine." 

Harry shook his head in disagreement, "I have no desire for greatness, Tom Riddle."

"So you know me then?" Tom replied as he saw Harry pause to collect the clutter of beer cans and place in the bag.

"You were the second male lead for famous movie trilogy ‘The Boy Who Lived’ whose major plot twist was making your character the villain."

"Well that was a turning point for my career. After that people sought more of my acting potential than just starring me as a boy next door or a cliché romantic male lead." Tom proudly added.

Harry chuckled, "Well you're romantic comedies leave a lot to be desired."

As the two continued to walk and collect any trash they find, Tom continued, "You're a fan of my works then?"

"I just like to watch movies and see how vast and imaginative people can be... Nonetheless, you're the reason why I started to watch the ‘He Who Shall Not Be Named’."

Tom felt oddly elated when he heard that and said, "I take great pride of that series." After all, that was the very first series Tom had won against Dumbledore when he was immediately cast as the main antagonist Voldemort while the old coot had not only had to audition for a role but also failed in getting any part. "It seems you know quite a lot about me but I'd like to know more about you, Harry. How different are you as a shopkeeper given that you are a magical being?"

“I mostly sell magical items to solve love problems."

"Love problems? Of all things? People can be very..." -annoying, insufferable, unreasonable and Tom can describe them to be so much more but adjusted his wording to be less scathing, "Tedious when feelings gets involved."

Harry seemed to be thinking deeply on how to answer when he responded, "Why not love? Such a broad word can more often than not carry different interpretations and definitions for each individual. After all just as love can come in the form of many things, it can also be a major factor in shaping peoples' lives even if it comes in the littlest forms."

"How vague.”

“Isn’t it so?”

“Though wouldn't that make your expertise to be more in demand? And having more customers would mean that there are more people becoming aware of the existence of actual magic. Shouldn’t it have become a big deal by now?" Tom could not stop himself from asking.

"You think too much but since your mind often plagues you for answers then I’ll be honest with you. The only reason why I have never made an effort to hide my magical abilities is because only those who truly need it can find me. While others are shielded and disillusioned by charms for what they see is veiled to seem normal. So that brings to question what plagues you, Tom Riddle?"

Growing uncomfortable at the having to discuss of the younger years of his life, Tom defensively responded, "I have everything I need. And I have no need for love if that is what you are asking."

"I wonder if that is the case..."

Before Tom could respond, the two men heard loud squeals.

"Oh my god! Isn't that Tom Riddle?!"

"Awwww!!! And he has been picking up trash in the beach? When there is no media coverage? Such a great man paired with a hot body."

"He’s even more handsome in person!"

Their loud comments had begun getting the attention of bystanders. And he worries he’ll get crowded by fans if he does not leave now. Tom felt his eye twitch in annoyance realizing his meeting with Harry Potter has to be cut short.

"Harry I-"

"I understand. It is unfortunate you won't be able to get the coveted baked treats as a reward though. Hmm..." Scavenging his sling bag for something, Harry offered, "Have some chocolate instead?"

Tom was not really fond of sweets nor did he really care for the reward. After all the only reason he bothered signing up was because he wanted the opportunity to talk to Harry. But with Harry staring back at him with expectant eyes, Tom for the first time in a long while hesitated. He should have rejected the thing but instead he was compelled to grab the frog shaped chocolates from him. "You have my gratitude, Harry." he said instead.

Harry smiled brightly, “You’re welcome, Tom Riddle.”

Tom left before the crowd of fans could to get him. Though halfway through his walk he realized he forgot to ask Harry for his contact information or at least where his shop is located. But when he looked back at the beach, the man was already gone.

* * *

**_I have never had much interest when it comes to people. I always find it easier to discard the people I no longer find useful before they build some sort of expectations._ **

**_But there are moments when I sometimes find myself deeply attached to certain things. Rarer still do I find myself affected by people. Hence, I'd never imagine I had this kind of greed hidden within me when I met Harry. This monopolistic desire to see him react and witness moments where his cheeks flush whenever I tease him and feel his body tense when I touch him. Will he try to cover his face whenever he feels embarrassed?_ **

**_Such thoughts gradually dominated my mind the more time I spent him, although, that wasn't the case yet when we had our second meeting. At that point of time I had only found him intriguing and a puzzle needed to be solved. I was curious enough that I did not mind becoming a temporary partner for Harry to help manage his client. So whenever I was roped into his adventures I admit I found myself genuinely entertained._ **

* * *

"Riddle, are you ready to go out? The driver is already waiting for us in the hotel entrance." Severus Snape said the moment he entered his room.

Tom who was lounging on the couch nodded and said, "Let me just go get my coat."

Left alone in the living room, Severus was about to close the muted television when he saw a large gigantic creature on the screen. He instead turned the volume up.

_"Hello and welcome to Quibbler News. My name is Seamus Finnigan. And our story for today is about the monster sighting in London last night. Here we have a video captured around 9pm where this gigantic creature suddenly appeared out of the river in London. But before the British Armed Forces were able to begin the elimination of the giant creature, it was gone. In just a few minutes the giant creature had disappeared beneath the water just as it came. The search for the gigantic creature is being made. Although no significant damage occurred from this event, no one knows where or when the creature will come again. Here we have Dean Thomas interviewing witnesses of the event..."_

_"Wow it really was scary to see it close up. It felt like it could've come straight out of a movie..."_

_"We could even see it from here at the station. It's truly a miracle there were no casualties."_

Grabbing the remote from Severus, Tom closed the television and said, "Let's go."

Severus seemed to be in a chatty mood tonight because he kept the conversation rolling, "Don't you have any thoughts of what happened last night? I just arrived in London this morning and all I’ve been hearing right now is about the monster appearing out of nowhere. Although I’m betting that the event last night was just a really expensive and fancy advertisement for that new film by-"

Tom did not care much for the appearance given that it is not really his problem and he also thinks it is likely to be a publicity stunt since there has not been much evidence found aside from the sightings which could just mean it was computer generated. Tired of hearing his agent's voice and theories, Tom tuned him out until they arrived to their photo shoot location.

"Riddle! You were not listening to me again, weren't you?!"

"I was not." Tom admitted with a straight face, he then added, "And don’t forget that I am doing you a favor when I accepted this work when I should still be in my vacation, Snape. So don't test my patience right now."

Severus frowned but nodded and Tom thought that was the end of that until he commented, "You seem to be in a disagreeable mood today, Riddle."

Tom was indeed not having a great day. But neither has he been very productive for the past few weeks. The fact that he had been spending his time in London not achieving the results he wanted is frustrating for him. Not only was his search for Harry Potter proving to be futile even when he finally had a name to accompany his face. It seems that there is no record of existence of his Harry Potter despite the common name. Not one matched and Tom even tried to check far back of history as possible but there was nothing. Added to his terrible week was when he had finally met his abomination of an uncle, Morfin Gaunt. Their meeting was not even worth recalling and only served to aggravate Tom.

"Let us just get over this."

When they arrived to the studio, Tom and Severus were welcomed by the photographer Colin Creevey and Fleur Delacour herself, who rose to fame as a member of the girl group 'Veelas'. Now she is more widely recognized as a solo artist and for her modeling career. Tom had already previously worked with the superstar under the brand Beauxbatons.

"Delacour." Tom greeted with a nod.

"Monsieur Riddle, it seems we'll be partnering up once again. And it’s nice to see you again, Severus." she replied.

"It's been a while since I last saw you, Fleur, and you are still absolutely stunning as always." Severus complimented the woman as the two began to catch up. Politely attempting to include Tom to the conversation, Fleur said, "I'm truly grateful you had accepted my request, monsieur Riddle, despite the short notice. My previous partner had just gotten into an accident and we were pressed for time."

"No worries, Fleur. It is always a pleasure for us to work with you. And it is good for publicity." Severus responded in his stead.

Tom only raised his eyebrow at Severus. His agent makes it seem as though he had not just desperately begged Tom to accept the work request two nights ago. Tom was always aware of just how much a secret fanboy Severus can be though he usually acts more professional than being blatantly obvious like this.

"Harry!" Fleur's face lit up as she quickly ended their conversation with a flash of smile at Tom and Severus and strutted away from them.

Hearing the familiar name, Tom looked behind him for confirmation and saw the man he has been searching for the past few weeks. It appears Tom should not have stressed his resources because fate this time seems to be working with him and had brought them together once more.

"Fleur, I've brought you drinks and some biscuits to snack on while we wait."

Walking towards them in a large strides, Tom greeted, "Well who do we have here?" his gaze fixed on Harry.

"Oh! Pardon my manners. Let me introduce you to my temporary manager, Harry Potter." she introduced to Tom then glancing at Harry she then said, "Harry this is monsieur Tom Riddle, he will be my male partner today. And accompanying him is Severus Snape, his agent" she pointed behind Tom.

Tom did not even realize that Severus had followed him and was about to instruct him to go away when he heard Harry respond, "It's nice to see you again, Tom Riddle."

"Please call me Tom, Harry." Tom ignored everyone else as he flashed him a pleasant smile.

"What the hell-" Tom could see his agent raise his eyebrows in surprise at his sudden change of character.

"You know monsieur Riddle, Harry?" Fleur curiously asked.

"Yes. We met few weeks ago at the beach when we were helping with the monthly clean-up."

"What the hell.” Severus repeated with more volume, “The rumors of the fans spotting you last time in the beach were real? And you were doing something to help the environment?" Severus was now staring at him with suspicion.

Ignoring his agent, he instead replied to Harry, "I had a wonderful time spending that afternoon with you, Harry."

"Am I still asleep? I must be-" Severus began muttering and questioning his own reality as though Tom was incapable of doing goodwill without gaining some sort personal merit in exchange.

"Miss Delacour and Mr. Riddle we will begin the photo shoot in 30 minutes so please proceed to the dressing room soon for the wardrobe change." an assistant called.

"Yes. We'll be there." she replied to the assistant. She then set her gaze back to Tom and Severus and said, "It's been a pleasure catching up with the two of you but Harry and I will go ahead."

When Tom had finally left the dressing room, he saw that Fleur had already began her solo shots and spotted Harry standing patiently in the sidelines.

Grabbing two foldable chairs, Tom approached Harry and offered, "Why don't you take a seat, Harry? Her photo shoot might take a while."

Accepting the chair, Harry responded with gratitude as Tom had also unfolded another chair next to him. When the two were comfortably sitting down, Tom turned his attention to Harry and asked, "Tell me, Harry. How did a shop owner such as you suddenly become a manager in the entertainment industry? Had a sudden change of pace? Because if so, I would love to have you working for me." 

Teasingly, Harry responded, "Without knowing my credentials, Tom? That's not very thorough of you... But no, I have not left my shop behind for the life billboards and neon lights." A few quiet moments later he added, "She is a client."

"I see. Though I did not expect your job could reach this far."

"You'd be shock to know how much of my clients are just like her. But hers is a little special."

"Hmmm... So If I asked you for help not related to your area of expertise would you still offer a hand?"

Harry’s green eyes sparkled in mirth, "Saying the word love in public won't destroy your reputation Tom. But for you I would. Still there is always a price."

"I'm not exactly poor. So no matter the amount I can most certainly pay-"

Shaking his finger at Tom, Harry said "I don't accept money as payment."

"What? How can you even keep running your store then if you don’t even earn funds?"

Harry was about to respond but the assistant interrupted their conversation and calling Tom, "Mr. Riddle? It's time for the photo shoot."

"Tch. Fine." Before leaving, Tom grabbed Harry's hand and said, "I'll look for you after my work." And as a response Harry only smiled and waved.

"What were you talking with Harry?" Fleur asked when he got close to her to do their couple poses.

Smirking, Tom said, "None of your business, Delacour." She frowned at his response but stayed quiet so the photo shoot can start. And an hour later, their couple poses were finally done.

"We only need your solo shots, Riddle, then we'll be done. And you're good to go, Miss Delacour. Good job." the photographer Creevey said.

"Thank you for your hard work, monsieur Creevey." Fleur responded

Realizing that he might lose the opportunity to talk to Harry, Tom asked Fleur before she left to change her wardrobe, "Delacour, it appears that Snape wants to talk more about possible future projects with you so we'd like to take you and Harry out for dinner."

Fleur momentarily looked confused at his spontaneous offer but reluctantly nodded, “Sure. I do still owe you, monsieur Riddle."

After swiftly finishing his work in less than 30 minutes, Tom went to go change but on his way to the changing room heard a loud crash. Following the noise he was brought near the emergency staircase where he could hear Harry and Fleur talking. Fleur was weeping and he could hear Harry comforting her.

"Are you sure you don't want to meet him, Fleur?"

"What else could his message be about, Harry? It's obvious he's planning to break up with me! Our eyes met Harry! He must have seen me turn into the ugliest person in the entire world! Of all the people to have seen me!"

"Fleur-"

"No! I can't take this anymore! Why is this happening to me?! Even though you have been helping me manage this horrid curse I thought I can continue working in the spotlight without fear..."

Tom was confused. Does Fleur Delacour really look that horrid without makeup?

"Look at me Fleur. Now darling don't look down. Look at me... Good. I want you to understand that the candies I give you only managed what can trigger your curse. Up until now only parts of your body have changed whenever you've gotten too emotional but this time it went beyond that."

Sniffling, she quietly said, "I was a literal monster, Harry."

"How do I put this delicately? You have to understand that what we've been doing so far was keeping you calm and minimizing your reactions to certain things but there are particular circumstances where uh-" Harry stuttered, "Some things that shoot up your emotions too quickly before you have the chance to consume the candy... Such that it could possibly be because you were feeling sexually aroused?"

"Oh merde. Does that mean I can never-"

"Not never just until your curse is lifted. I've already created a sedative to help you if you ever transform but it’s only temporary."

"That must as well be forever! We don't even know how to break this horrid curse."

From what Tom gathered from this conversation, based on the timeline and Harry’s involvement, it would mean that the gigantic creature from last night was real and the identity of the creature was Fleur Delacour. Having gotten enough information, Tom left them alone. And once he was safely away from the two, he messaged them that he'll to meet them at the entrance at 15 minutes to give them sufficient time compose and for him to change back his clothes.

"Snape we'll be having dinner with Harry and Delacour. Can you handle the reservations for the restaurants while I change?"

“So sudden? Are you plotting something, Riddle?”

Tom smiled menacingly, “Keep that up, Snape and I just might make you pay for dinner in the most expensive restaurant I know.”

Conceding in defeat, Severus sighed in exasperation, “Fine. I’ll find us reservations.” 

Tom was on his way to the entrance when he spots Harry and Fleur talking to a redhead man in a business suit holding a bouquet of flowers. Harry looked like he wanted to give them privacy but Fleur's fierce grip on his wrist made him an awkward participant to the conversation between the two.

"Wouldn't it be better to have your discussions with your beau be made somewhere more private, Delacour? Even if this building is in a secluded area you still might get caught by the paparazzi."

Glaring at his direction but acknowledging his advice, she nodded and pointed in a waiting room in the first floor, "Give me a few minutes then we can go to dinner."

"We can postpone-"

"Few minutes." Fleur said more fiercely.

With a gentle pat on her shoulder, Harry said, "I'll wait with Tom then, Fleur."

Nodding at the two men, the couple went in the waiting room.

Harry seemed to be contemplating something when he asked "Do you think it was smart to leave them alone in a room with no chaperone?"

Knowing vaguely the pressing concern that Fleur was currently facing, Tom did not think so but was genuinely curious of the outcome. So instead he countered his question with his own, "Why do you think so, Harry?"

"You know why, eavesdropper."

Tom was feigning innocence when he responded, "Well I was just worried that something terrible was happening when I overheard the two of you having the oddest of conversations."

Harry for a moment looked amused but then his expression shifted to something more soft and kind, "Only because I trust you, Tom."

Tom paused at that, "Why?"

"I wonder. But in this case it’s because I might just need your help." Harry replied this time his eyes full of mischief.

The statement made Tom think on whether or not Harry purposefully made him aware of the situation or was he using it to his advantage? Before he could ask, the two heard a loud bang of the door opening and saw Fleur clutching her hand and running away from the flustered red headed man who was calling her name, "Fleur!"

"Don't look at me, Bill! Just don't!"

Fleur seems to be transforming into something grotesque when she runs pass by them. Tom hears Harry whisper, "Hmm... There seems to be slight miscalculation." Turning to Harry for more information, he sees him no longer by his side but had gone towards the red head man to say something.

Harry then went back to his side as he grasped his hand and asked, "Won't you come with me, Tom?" Tom did not even hesitate to follow Harry outside and just in time for them to see Fleur jump into the nearby river and transform into the gigantic creature from last night. Unlike last night, she now more animated and roaring loudly in frustration.

Tom sees the monstrous Fleur stare at their direction only to hear her roar once more but this time she has begun moving away from them in extremely large strides.

Hearing a shout of surprise, Tom glanced back at the building to see the red head man frozen still, "What in the world? Was that Fleur?"

Harry did not bother responding but went to ask Tom, "Do you know how to ride the motorcycle, Tom?

Tom nodded, "I also have a license."

"Great!" Harry pulls Tom towards a motorcycle with the most obnoxious shade of red Tom has ever seen. Harry then handed the key to Tom along with a facial mask.

"What am I supposed to do with this?”

"Quickly apply it to your face so you won't get recognize."

"Don't you think I would catch more attention wearing a facial mask while driving this obnoxious motorcycle?"

Ignoring his complaints, Harry slapped the face mask on his face, “There. Wasn’t too hard was it?”

Annoyed, Tom ripped it off his face and said, "I did not need that."

Looking back at his face, Harry grinned and nodded, “We’re ready then! Let’s now go after Fleur before something she does something she regrets."

Tom reluctantly keeps his questions to himself for now and turns the engine on. With Harry safely seated behind him, Tom starts to drive off towards the gigantic creature's direction which was made easy since every car at this time was running away from her location.

"I hope you have a plan, Harry." Tom said when they were getting closer to Fleur.

"Of course." Harry replies, and out of nowhere he takes out a cutely designed bazooka and was fixing his aim.

Tom was not even fazed and just accelerated the motorcycle until Harry found the perfect aim and time.

"Got it. Slow down, Tom! Aiming and fire!" Tom heard a click but there were no painful or loud noises that accompanied the launch. He only sees the shot hit the back of the gigantic creature. And for a moment they see her pause before she once again goes under the water. Tom can see her shrink until she was no longer visible.

"Shouldn’t we go to her before she drowns?"

"No worries. My lovely Hedwig has already been assigned to pick her up. For now let me direct you to our rendezvous point."

Harry had a partner, Tom realized and gritted out the question, "Who is Hedwig?"

Riding away from the scene of the crime where the British Armed Forces had just arrived, the two reached their meeting point which was at a more isolated area underneath a bridge and away from the people. Tom saw Fleur being dragged out of river by a white dolphin. "Hedwig! Fleur!" Harry called out.

Fleur was coughing the water away from her lungs as the white dolphin glowed and shifted into a snowy white owl which flew into Harry's shoulder. "Good girl." Harry stroke the bird and Hedwig cooed in response. Kneeling next to Fleur, Harry offered her his coat to cover her nakedness then asked, "How are you feeling, Fleur?"

"Ugh… Disoriented..."

This time Tom asked, "Are you hurt, Delacour?"

"I don't think so. I just... I'm just tired." Fleur said as she smiled self-deprecatingly, "I guess I really have no chance to be in a loving relationship.”

"Oh Fleur. That is most certainly not the case."

"What do you mean not the case? I’m-"

"Fleur!" Bill who arrived in a sports bike was breathing and sweating excessively as he called for her once more, "Fleur!"

"Bill?! Wha- why? How did you find me?"

Harry who was next to her stood and smiled, "You might want to try giving him a chance and listen. We’ll give you some semblance of privacy for a few minutes and then we need to go to somewhere safer, okay?"

Bill after having finally composed himself walked towards his girlfriend while Fleur looked as though she expected him to stare at her in disgust. When the two were finally in close proximity, Bill knelt in front of Fleur and said something so softly that Tom and Harry could not hear. Fleur cried and threw herself to Bill and the two were locked into an embrace.

Tom heard Harry sigh in relief as they walked few distances away from the couple. While they are keeping a lookout, Tom questioned Harry, "When you said she was a tad special you meant that she was already inflicted by magic before you came into the picture?"

Harry nodded, "I'm not the only of my kind in existence. Some of them just like to see people suffer and some believe they are giving righteous punishment to others... Fleur must have been building up such insecurities and keeping it inside for far too long until it became too much for her to handle. It must have made her easy prey." 

"You know who cursed her then?"

"I do... But it seems I did not know him as well as I thought." Harry said sadly.

Sensing his down mood, Tom changed the topic, "It appears that you have a shapeshifter as a pet."

"Hedwig is actually one of my partners! Isn’t she lovely?” Harry began petting the owl on his shoulder.

"I see…One of your partners?”

“Yes.” Turning his head towards the owl, Harry said, “It’s time for you to head back first to the shop, Hedwig. I just have to bring them back safely before I go home.”

As Hedwig flew away, the two heard a squeal of joy from Fleur as she began fervently saying yes to Bill. Looking back to the couple, Fleur seemed to have calmed down from her crying and was now peppering Bill's face with kisses all over as the man was also laughing in joy.

"It seems congratulations are in order."

"It seems so."

When Harry and Tom made sure that the couple was brought to a safe and private location, in this case they brought them back to Fleur's private apartment.

Fleur said, "Thank you very much, Harry. And uhm-" she stared at Tom, "Harry's friend.” she then added, “I'll come visit your shop soon with Bill." The newly engaged couple then bid their goodnight and went into the apartment.

Confused as to why Fleur doesn't seem to recognize him, Tom recalled the face mask that Harry applied on him earlier and went towards the rearview mirror of the motor and say an unfamiliar face reflect back at him. “How long with this last?" he asked instead of panicking. 

"Don't worry, Tom. It's only temporary and doesn’t last long. So come on," Harry patted the back of his motorcycle, "I'll have to bring you back soon before it fades away. You can't get caught in public or your agent will have aneurysm."

"Oh right. I forgot about Snape." Checking his phone he sees his log contain dozens of messages and calls from Severus asking where they are and if they are safe. He sent him a short message telling him he’ll be going back straight to the hotel and that dinner was cancelled.

Tom immediately received a text back from Severus saying, _“You don’t say. You better have a reasonable excuse for abandoning me and going AWOL when there had been another monster sighting.”_

When the two had finally arrived in the hotel, Tom got down and gently grasped both of Harry’s hands to his chest as he stared at him intently, "Still want to get dinner with me, Harry?"

Suddenly shy under his intense gaze, Harry looked down to hide his lightly flushed cheeks as he replied, "I believe that would not be well received by your agent at the moment so maybe next time we meet.” When Tom had let finally let go of his hold on him, Harry’s gaze went back to his face as he handed Tom a cap, "You’re going to need to get in already. Your facial features have gone back to normal."

Tom was not satisfied. He knows his vacation will be cut short so it might take a while before Tom will find another free time to come back to London so instead of yielding, Tom said, "That item was actually useful. Do you think you'll sell it some to me?" He asked even though Tom did not see himself using it anytime in the future, he just wanted to subtly get Harry's contact without seeming too desperate.

Giggling adorably, Harry pretended to think, "Hmm... Most likely not since you don't really need it do you, Tom?" he said as though reading his mind. Before Tom could respond, Harry then slipped a card and a chocolate frog into the pocket of his coat. "Until next time, Tom. Take care."

“Until next time, Harry.” Tom softly said. As he strode towards the door, Tom saw Harry wave one more goodbye to him as he finally entered the hotel.

Harry was preparing to leave when he heard the sound of his phone give a familiar ring. Quickly checking his phone, his smile grew even wider as he read the notification.

_“Harry Potter, descendant of Gryffindor, you have just received payment from a human, CONFIDENCE.”_

* * *

**_I've always believed in the principle that there is no good and evil. There is only power and those too weak to seek it._ **

**_This may be why I seem harsher to people because I expect them be better. But being at the top of the social sphere, you'd think I'd meet more competent people. But instead the higher I climb the more I had to suffer to be in the presence of the inane people I strove to prove wrong. It was tiresome and their mindless chatter only serves to bore me._ **

**_So it always makes me wonder how Harry has consistently exceeded my expectations. At first glance he may seem like any ordinary guy on the street but his potential shines through the more time you spend with him. I don't think I'll ever find someone else like Harry. Though it does make me ponder, had I not witness him flying that fateful night would have I been foolish to overlook him over someone with money or power? Would my initial attraction for him be enough to perk my interest?_ **

**_This then begs another question, why does this man put me at ease? Is it because I presume that it is conceivable to have all of him? Or is this growing desire because I still don't know everything about him? This I can find out why. I approached Harry for our third meeting with such things in mind. This time I have finally visited his shop and witnessed him in his own territory._ **

* * *

Ever since Harry had given Tom his contact information, the two have been communicating back and forth through phone calls at least twice a week talking just about anything that comes to mind. Since neither Harry nor Tom was fond of having to text their thoughts, they mutually agreed that it was easier to call. For Tom he usually talks about his recent works and the people he meets (he really just subtly badmouths about them while Harry does his best to make him see the bright side) while Harry sometimes talks about his very unique clients (his narration always ends up being eventful and leaving Tom with more questions). So with Tom away from London for work, he has yet to have the opportunity to go and visit Harry's shop and see him personally.

So when one night during their weekly calls, Harry had hung up so suddenly, Tom could not help but think what was so important that he had to cut their time short. Deep inside though, Tom did not want to admit that he heard a woman's voice before Harry had hurriedly said his goodbye. He did not think it could be client since it should have already been midnight in London. So it comes to mind that he may possibly be living with a woman. After all, Tom had still not met his other partner. Was she his live-in partner? Harry had never mentioned any siblings. And he also seemed like the type to brag about his significant other. To think that in the past, he saw such actions as pointless and bothersome, Tom did not think he'd be experiencing the same thing.

Three days later after their last phone call, Tom finally gets the opportunity to go back to London when he has to sign his contract with Black Enterprise. He immediately informs Harry that he might find time to pass by his shop after his meeting and he'll bring some souvenirs. Thinking bribing would work in his favor.

Arriving at the company on time with Severus at his side who has been frowning more and more the closer they got to the building. And to no one’s surprise it was Bellatrix Black who welcomed them as she quickly latched onto Tom's elbow just to give them a tour. When they finally arrived in the CEO's office, Tom shook her off him and gave her a look of disdain. That seems to have only turned her on more as though Tom was playing hard to get. Before she left them alone, the woman gave Tom a flirty wink before sauntering away.

Asking them to take a seat for a while so she can inform the director of their arrival, the secretary knocked then opened the door only for them to get an earful of an argument coming in the office.

"You just don't get it, Sirius! You never seem to! I'm not trying to make you feel insecure, I just need closure! Teddy needs this! I need this!"

"Remus she's been dead for years and you've been postponing our wedding because you felt that the timing wasn't right. What else should I be thinking?! I can't bloody well compete with a dead woman!"

The secretary immediately closed the door and stuttered an apology to Tom and Severus as she went back her desk to make a call.

The intensity of Severus’s frown seemed to lessen as he shifted uncomfortably. "Maybe it would be better had I not came in with you."

That was unexpected coming from Severus. He was usually grouchy and scathing to just about anyone he meets. "Are you being considerate? Did you think that the less people who witnessed their argument the less their embarrassment would be? How odd coming from you."

"What?! Fuck no."

"Then-" Hearing a loud bang of the door opening, a bespectacled brown haired man leaves the room teary eyed.

"Dammit Remus! We have to talk about this!" another voice followed as the infamous Sirius Black left his office looking disheveled. The man was pulling his hair in frustration.

"Uhm Director..." the secretary meekly tried to get his attention, "You had a scheduled meeting with the Tom Riddle and his agent 15 minutes ago.”

"What?!" He then turned his gaze into their direction as his eyes narrowed when he spotted Severus, "Snivellus?!"

"How mature of you, Black" he said his name with scorn, "But I guess I shouldn’t have expected professionalism from you given that it’s a scarce commodity in your family."

Sirius growled at them to get in. Even when all three men were seated in the office, the two kept throwing scathing remarks to each other.

"Should you really be antagonizing me every step of the way, Black? Your company was the one practically begging for Riddle to sign onto your company."

"You mean Bella practically drooling over this guy? I'm just doing her a favor because she won't stop pestering me about him. I bet all he has is a pretty face." he pointed at Tom quite rudely.

While Tom was mildly entertained by their banter and obvious hostility to each other, he did not care for being disrespected by some lowly mutt, even if said mutt owned a million dollar company.

Severus was frozen stiff when Tom responded with a deceivingly pleasant smile, "Director Black I hope you understand that I did not come all this way just to have you disrespect me simply because I am an actor. Even someone such as I have several methods I can use to ruin not your company but you. You are after all replaceable." Tom continued, "So if you keep belittling me then there'd no longer be a need for me to hold back. Do you understand what I'm saying? Or was I perhaps too subtle for someone like you to get it?"

Sirius paled but assented in a low voice, "Loud and clear.” For a moment silence dominated the room until Sirius coughed and made a gesture for them to start their discussion, "Uh... So shall we talk more about the contract?"

Two hours later, they had finally come to an agreement. Tom had then officially signed the contract to the joy of Bellatrix Black and dread of Sirius Black.

Not wasting any more of his time in that company, Tom immediately drove off to Godric's Hollow to visit Harry. He arrives to a quaint and homely three story building with the sign 'Prongslet’s Bazaar'.

Entering the building, Tom was greeted by a woman with a dreamy voice, "Welcome to Prongslet's how may we help?"

Recognizing the voice to be the one who was with Harry that night, Tom turned his gaze towards the woman with dirty blonde hair. Her pale silvery eyes stared blankly at him until it glowed in recognition, "You are Tom Marvolo Riddle Jr.! Harry's good friend! He has told me so much about you!"

"Yes. Though I can’t say the same about you, I don’t recall Harry ever mentioning your name," he replied pettily.

Not even feeling a slight offended, she explained, "It's not that odd since Harry likes to talk to you about the more exciting events in his life." Standing from her seat in the shop counter she introduces herself, “My name is Luna Lovegood. Harry is my friend and partner in Prongslet's. I'm often in charge of the counter and keeping the shop occupied whenever Harry deals with the more interesting customers."

"Oh.” Realizing his mistake, he changed tactics and offered the souvenir. “It's a pleasure to meet you. I’ve brought some snacks for both of you.” He quickly scouted the place before asking, “Where is Harry though?"

"He went out to pick someone up." She then smiled knowingly and added, "If it eases your mind while Harry and I do live together we have separate floors on this building. And I am already seeing Rolf."

"I did not ask for that added info-"

"Tom! You're here!" Harry came in the shop with a little girl following behind him.

"Harry, it's nice to see you again." he greeted with a warm smile. Glancing at the child, he then asked, "Have you been babysitting?"

"What!" the little girl screeched. "I am not a child! I am a grown woman! And I demand to be respected!" the bushy haired girl glared at Tom.

"Calm down, 'Mione." Harry said.

"I will not! And you better turn me back soon Harry or else!" she threateningly responded.

"Who is this little girl, Harry? She looks an awful lot like that Undersecretary Granger. Even screeches like her."

"Riddle. I see you've been leeching off Harry.”

Tom only raised an eyebrow at the crude statement and would have retorted had Harry not interjected. "This is Undersecretary Hermione Granger." he confirmed. "The reason why she is in this predicament is because her boyfriend had accidentally given her a regression candy instead of the calming one. Common mistake given that the only difference between the two is that they are different shades of blue."

Luna continued, “Don’t worry, Hemione. We are already planning to change the color of the candies to prevent this from happening again.”

Not betraying anything on his face Tom internally snorted at her misery. But it seemed that the woman-turned-child had sensed his amusement and screamed, "I bet you're enjoying seeing me in this predicament, you bastard!”

Tom Riddle and Hermione Granger had always detested each other on sight. While Tom was smart enough not to voice out disliking her in public, Hermione outright bashed and provoked him on media. The two had met in a charity gala and he knew that she was biased towards Albus Dumbledore. And given their chummy relationship, it did not surprise Tom that Dumbledore’s dislike of him would rub off to her. For a woman with power, Hermione’s worst trait is the fact that she is obstinate and still expects people to treat her strong opinions like gospel.

"Hermione I get that you are mad. But you are usually the voice of reason," Tom nearly scoffed when he Harry said that, "And it’s only temporary, okay? Just 24 hours. Come on let's go out again and get more fresh air, okay? You needed this break anyways." Harry tried to placate the woman while she grumbled her consent.

"May I come with you, Harry?" Tom asked not wanting to lose spending more time with him.

"You'll have to use the facial mask though because if someone recognizes you with us they might think you have a secret child."

Hermione laughs at that, "Him? Have a child? I don't think he even has a sexual drive in that stone cold body of his."

Harry sighed in disappointment, "Hermione that was too much."

Realizing she said too much, she apologized, "Sorry. I've just been having a terrible week lately."

“We’ll wait outside then.”

"Here you go, Tom." Luna offered the facial mask then added, "I hope you won't hold her words too hard against her. Hermione had just been terribly stressed lately. And Ron in hopes of making her feel better went to us for help but his mistake only made things worse."

"I hardly care. We already disliked each other from the start so I never take her words to heart."

When Tom was finally ready, the three began their trek to the park. Tom and Harry were walking behind Hermione and chatting amiably when they arrived. Hermione was then instantly approached by two little girls who asked her if she wanted to play. Harry willingly purchased them some bread to feed the ducks as the two men were then left alone whilst the girls went closer to the lake to play. Tom did not think he had ever spent time just wandering around the park in the day. And yet here he is having a nice walk with Harry under the blinding sun.

When the two had settled on seating on the bench near the little girls, Tom said, "You seem to be having fun, Harry."

"I guess I am. Especially now since you are here with me, Tom." Harry responded honestly.

Whether or not Tom had sexual drive, if Harry kept saying adorable things like that, he feels he might succumb to his desire and push him down. And for a moment everything was calm until they heard a loud cry. Immediately turning their attention to the girls, they were in time to see the two girl companions of Hermione running back towards their mother leaving her all alone near the lake.

Harry had run towards her while Tom followed slowly behind. "'Mione are you okay, did something happen?"

Hermione who was tearing up and seemingly about to burst to tears complained, "This is ridiculous! I only pointed out their mistakes it was not as though I was being cruel about it."

"It's alright, 'Mione. They were just children so they are more sensitive to those kinds of things."

Frustrated, she finally burst our crying, "I never envisioned my life like this! I'm always miserable. Ron never appreciates me. And I always feel exhausted having to deal with those stupid old men!" Hermione kept ranting before she shoved Harry away. "I bet it’s your fault and your freak magic! I have never felt more dissatisfied in with my life before I met you!" Shouting more harshly she kept going, "It would have been better had I never met you!" and threw the necklace Harry gave her on the ground and ran.

Tom saw the moment Harry stiffened at her words. "I see." he had heard Harry whisper quietly to himself. Smiling sadly, he grabbed the necklace off the ground.

"Is that magical or something?" Tom asked pointing at the necklace.

Harry replied, "Kind of. Although, I did give this necklace to her under the guise that it was ordinary. But all it really does is to absorb negative emotions around her so she won't be easily swayed by the mood of the people around her." Harry gently caressed the jewel with his fingers, "Though it appears to have already been overloaded with negativity in such a short time."

"Shall I go get her then, Harry?"

"Eh?! You don't have to trouble yourself she just needs to cool off for a few minutes-"

"I am going out of my way to pick her up and possibly listen to her drama even though I dislike the woman. For me to do such thing without prompt is only because I want to do something for you, Harry. So there is no need for you to feel guilty over something as inconsequential as this.

"Thank you Tom." Harry smiled in gratitude.

Following the sounds of weeping, Tom spots Hermione hidden behind a bush. She was sitting with her knees drawn up and held against her chest. Her face was blotchy and red from crying.

"Granger." he called out.

Frowning in distaste, she said, "Ugh. Riddle. Why are you here?"

"You really expected Harry to come get you after your stunt earlier? That was pretty harsh of you to say to someone who has been helping you with no complaints."

"Shut up! He would have gone to get me... I think." Losing her conviction halfway, she screamed to release her pent-up frustrations and said, "I'm such a bitch!"

"Glad we can finally agree with something."

"Shut up bastard! You're no better!"

"It was really unreasonable of me to blame all my failures to Harry just because he was there.” She covered her face shame, “I can't believe I said those things."

"Good to see you're reflecting."

Hermione glared but continued, "I've actually been up my political game since I met Harry. And with his and Ron's support it made everything more bearable. But I can't believe this one failure was enough for me to break down and burn all my relationships."

"It's not as though it's your first time, Granger."

"No it's not my first. But it was my worst failure yet. I should have responded better."

Tom realized that it's possible that all the negative emotions Harry was trying to protect her from came most from within her. Still, Tom remained silent. After all he was not in the position to actually give her life advice given how work driven he also is.

Hermione who was now calmer and more contemplative then said, "Help me."

"No." Tom was not going to waste his time on her when he knows she's sides with Albus Dumbledore.

"Not in work, Riddle. I meant with Harry."

Tom even looked more dubiously at her, "Just say sorry like a normal person would. Harry will forgive you easily."

"I'm asking because I know he will easily grant me forgiveness despite my horrible words."

Tom did not understand why this woman was making things more complicated by recruiting him when she could just fix it herself. "I'm still saying no because I refuse to be held responsible if things go sour between you." Though, Tom would totally be fine with that. He can comfort Harry himself if she fails. 

Not taking the hint, Hermione persisted in annoying Tom into agreement. "Remember Granger, even if I ever say yes this is going to cost you. I'm not nice enough to help you of all people without expecting something in return."

"Bastard! We're both Harry's friends you should treat me better! I bet you're the type to leave someone to perish even if they begged for help!"

Tom only smirked and admitted, "I hope you're aware that it wouldn't affect me at all if you couldn't mend your relationship with Harry. Actually it's perfect for me."

"You evil bastard! I'll never let you date Harry!" she screeched once more.

After finally dragging the fiery woman back to the shop the moment she had run out of excuses to postpone her talk with Harry, the two were welcomed by a delicious smell of baked cookies and brewed tea. "You two are back. Have a seat Tom you've work hard."

"Hey!" Hermione said.

Luna continued, "And Hermione, Harry and Ron are in the office waiting for you." she then asked, "Are you ready to speak with them?"

Determined she nodded, "Yeah." Hermione steeled herself as she entered the room behind the counter.

Almost an hour later, the red head freckled man who introduced himself as Ron Weasley left the office carrying a sleepy and tearstained Hermione. Harry was handing her a rectangular box which must be carrying the new necklace when she whispered something to Harry and glared at Tom.

Harry was waving them goodbye at the door when Tom heard a ping from Harry's phone left behind at the table.

_“Harry Potter, descendant of Gryffindor, you have just received payment from a human, SELF-LOVE.”_

"Sorry for making you come all this way but I appreciate you coming, Tom. You've been really helpful bringing back the fire in 'Mione." Harry said when he took the seat next to Tom.

Waving at both men, Luna said, "Shop is closed now, Harry, so I'll be going out for dinner with Rolf. Will you two be fine alone?"

"No worries, Luna." Harry replied with a smile. On the other hand Tom was elated that they are finally alone.

When the two of them were finally alone, Tom asked, "Are you feeling better now, Harry?"

"I am."

Tom knows how much it must have hurt him to hear his own friend blame him for her misery. But it's good that Hermione managed to redeem herself. "That's great then. I like you better when you smile so she must have done something right."

"I'm happy that 'Mione is finally aware that she needs to treat herself better... But I'm also happy that I got to see you, Tom. It's been a while since we last saw each other after all."

"Oh." Tom clenched his hands tight as the desire to grab Harry and squeeze him tightly overwhelmed him. "May I ask you to dinner then?" he asked instead.

"Yes." And finally they did.

The next time Tom came to visit Harry was the day before his flight. That day he saw Remus Lupin in the shop.

"Mr. Riddle." Remus greeted with a nod. Luna also sent him a polite greeting. Though Tom’s gaze immediately went to Harry whose face lit up the moment he saw Tom, "Tom it's good to see you. I'm with a client right now. So would you mind waiting in my office for a while?"

Tom nodded and went inside grabbing one of the scripts in his bag to read to pass time. But often times he gets distracted by their voices which sometimes carry into the room, although, Tom could only hear pieces of the conversation.

"You can use this phone to call someone from the past in exchange for a beautiful memory you have with that person." Harry explained.

There was a long moment of silence until Tom heard Harry ask, "Did she answer?"

"She did. It's been so long since I heard her voice and I'm thankful-"

"Unfortunately you can't change their fate with one phone call, Mr. Lupin."

"I understand. Hearing her conviction reminded me that even if I had stopped her from going after the criminal, she would still have risked her life in the future to save-"

Luna sagely said, "Don't cling too much on your past, Mr. Lupin. You've still got a long way ahead of you. Treasure what you've got now in your life."

"Thank you Mr. Potter and Miss Lovegood. Having heard her once more gave me closure. I'll stop wasting my time with regrets. I'm sure Teddy, my son, would love to have a family once more."

A familiar ping was then heard from Harry’s phone which Tom read.

_“Harry Potter, descendant of Gryffindor, you have just received payment from a human, ACCEPTANCE.”_

Hearing the door close from outside the office, Tom realized that he had never lost anyone important in his life. Well he had never had someone important enough to actually feel the pain and suffering that usually accompanies such loss. Until now... 

Bursting into the room, Harry asked, "I've made you wait again! I’m sorry! He was the last client for the day so do you want to eat out or do you want to let me cook something for dinner?"

"I've got an early flight tomorrow so I'd like it if we had more time together."

Blushing lightly at his sudden admission, Harry said, "Take out it is then."

* * *

**_From then on, it was the gradual realization for someone like me who has always believed that emotions made us weak to accept the fact that I was feeling genuine affection for someone. I have never been obsessed with anyone before or rather I have never met someone who sparked my interest enough to distract me from my passion and drive for fame and power. And now, years after our first meeting and as we had more shared adventures together, I can no longer imagine a life when he wasn't there._ **

**_By now I can’t help but acknowledge that whenever I am with Harry something eases within my body and soul to the point that I don't want to imagine him gone. I don't think I can be happy or satisfied anymore with the thrill of recognition or the elating feeling of having the power over someone. Because losing Harry would mean me becoming fanatical in my search for him or maybe even losing my sanity. So is this feeling dependency or love? I can never seem to tell apart..._ **

**_This intoxicating sensation makes me go numb and at the same time compels me to affect him deeply and spoil him until he melts. Isn't it the same? And to have tasted finally this bliss, I'm terrified at the thought of losing it all… Because if it is not Harry then I don't want anything else. I realize I've become weak but only for him. So it would be great if I was the only who could reach his heart._ **

**_Nonetheless I know that is impossible because Harry is capable of love as vast as the ocean. But can you blame me if I sometimes envision Harry helpless and becoming someone who cannot live without me by his side? Even though, I'm actually the one who can't live without him._ **

**_He may not realize this, but he has become the center of my world. And now I understand the need and struggles one has to go through just so I can be the center of his._ **

* * *

"Tom, can you please turn your head slightly to the left. Yeah that's it." the photographer instructed.

Tom had been in the middle of taking his promotional pictures for his new film "The Tale of Three Brothers" whose primary location was set in London when the photographer called for a break.

"Good job Riddle." Severus said as he handed him his water bottle.

Tom only nodded in response as he grabbed his phone from the seat and noticed he had a message from Barty Crouch Jr., the bodyguard he hired to secretly to follow Harry Potter outside his shop after the incident with one of his fans had almost harmed Harry. Unlocking his phone, he clicks the message open. He expected another complaint from Crouch on how hard it was to keep track of the man without losing him but what he read instead made him frown.

 _“How do you want me to advance, sir?”_ was messaged accompanied by two pictures. The first one was Harry walking with a man dressed in black from head to toe and the second one was Harry having dinner with a familiar redhead man in vibrant blue coat.

Contacting Barty, his call was immediately answered after two rings, _"Good day, sir."_

"Were you able to identify the men?" Tom asked forgetting pleasantries.

An immediate response was received, _"That's the thing. The first man seems to be the visiting foreign dignitary from United States, Director Percival Graves while the other is the infamous author of the Fantastic Beasts series, Newt Scamander. Mr. Potter sure knows quite a wide range of people, sir."_

"Were you possibly able to hear what they needed from my Harry?"

_"Sorry sir. I could not. Director Graves looked too paranoid and I could not get too close without him spotting me. As for Mr. Scamander his pet... uh... dog? Keeps finding me from my hidden location. He does not even leash his pet so I was worried I'd be found out by Mr. Potter as a consequence."_

Rubbing his head in frustration, Tom instructed "I see. Just keep guarding Harry then. And don't get caught." If Harry found out about him assigning him a bodyguard he might get pissed at Tom for doing things without his permission. But Tom recently realized that his fans can be extremely toxic. His previous self would not have cared since it helps his publicity but now Tom did not want to lose Harry because of his fame.

Finishing his photo shoot in record speed, Tom left his agent behind, "Riddle? Where are you going in a rush?"

"Somewhere. I have no more appointments after this, right?"

Severus replied, "Well yeah. But I had already reserved you to have dinner at-" 

"If you are trying to manipulate me into going to another blind date then don't even bother, Snape."

Trying to defend himself, Severus tried to explain, "But it will be good for press and the woman this time is-"

Tom left without looking back and making sure he is wearing a much better disguise, Tom drove to Harry's shop. He arrived just a few moments late to see Harry wave his goodbye to Percival Graves who was already driving away.

"Tom! I did not know you were coming by. You usually call me beforehand."

Tom responded in all honesty, "I just wanted to see you Harry."

Blushing at his admission, Harry diverted the conversation by offering him to have something to drink inside the shop.

"I'd love to." Tom was removing his coat and hat when he noticed the envelope in Harry's hand. "What have you got there, Harry?”

Raising the envelope to give Tom a clearer look, Tom read the invitation, "A Ministry Ball Halloween themed party?"

"Yeah. Percival Graves, my new client, gave it to me just minutes ago.” Building up his courage, Harry asked, “I know you’re usually busy and all but since you had asked to formally court me four months ago, I thought it would be proper to ask you if you’d like to be my plus one for that night?"

“Yes Harry. I’d like to be your date.”

Having accepted his offer attend the party, Tom drove to Prongslet's early to have time to wear his costume which Luna prepared to make sure they match. When he went in the shop, Tom was stunned when he saw Harry in a sexy little red riding hood dress.

"The skirt is too short Luna." Harry complained.

"You've wear one before last Christmas."

"I was wearing tights to cover my legs not stockings! This is embarrassing. Oh! Good afternoon, Tom!" Harry said when he registered his presence by the door.

"Since I've left Luna in charge of costumes she made sure your face is covered. Well rather you're entire body is covered in fur."

"So I'm the wolf to your little red riding hood." Tom commented as he tried to discreetly gaze at Harry's costume.

Harry's cheeks were flushed pink as he nodded, "Though I still think I should have been the hunter. After all a girl would suit this costume better than me."

Walking closer to Harry and grabbing him by his shoulders, Tom seriously responded, "Harry the point isn't about body shape but it's your embarrassment that makes it sexy.” He then added, “I promise you look very good so don’t worry.”

Tom’s comment had resulted in Harry’s face flushing red in embarrassment as he stuttered, “I- uh. Thanks?” Tom got distracted when he thought how far his blush must go when their attention was called by Luna.

"Here's your costume Tom. I'll leave it to Harry to help you change."

"What- wait, Luna!" Harry called but the woman had already gone back to her apartment.

The next few minutes was painful for Tom who was doing his best not to pounce on Harry while the other man seems to be sufficiently distracted trying to fit Tom into the costume.

When the two have arrived at the ball, they were greeted by Hermione Weasley née Granger and her husband Ron Weasley.

"Harry you came!" Hermione greeted and in a colder tone stared at the furry beast, "And Tom is here as well I see."

"It's good to see you two, ‘Mione and Ron."

As they circled the party together to mingle with others, Tom noted how effortlessly Harry makes friends. When Tom noticed that Harry seemed parched during their conversation with Chief Judge Amelia Bones, he excused himself to get some non-alcoholic drink at the buffet table. But when Tom came back, Harry was gone.

"Have you seen where Harry has gone, Chief Bones?"

"Oh Percival wanted to talk to him in private so they went out to the garden."

"Percival Graves?" Before he could hear her confirmation, Tom rapidly walked outside until he spotted the two sitting near the fountain.

Seeing the two intently talking, Tom waited until their conversation is about to end before walking towards Harry.

As he got closer to the two, Tom heard Harry said, "I need you to be sure that you want to do this, Percival."

Percival seemed to hesitate but responded, "... Yeah."

Harry sighed and with a wave to Tom stood up from the fountain, "Alright. Come by the shop the day after tomorrow.”

As they left Percival behind to stew on his thoughts, Tom asked, "You seem worried, Harry."

"Only because his decision might be something he'll regret in the long run."

Tom sensed that Harry was in a somber mood so he asked him if he wants to leave the party early to which he responded with a nod.

When the two arrived home, Tom made sure to walk him to the door. “Is Luna home?”

“No. She plans to spend the night out with Rolf.”

Not wanting to leave him alone, Tom followed Harry inside. As he began plotting ways to distract Harry, Tom ended up teasingly asking him, "Trick or treat, Harry?"

"Are you asking for candy? Because we have something sweet in the counter." Harry said.

"You mean you don't have any with you right now?"

Harry pouted, "You know I don't. This costume doesn't exactly allow much space to hide stuff."

"Then I guess it is trick then." Tom said with a smirk.

"Eh?! I do have candies. It's just over there." Harry tried to justify as he pointed to the counter where a large jar of purple candies placed.

"But you can't put it in my hand right? You're too naive, Harry. But I like that about you." Tom grabs his chin and gently tilts Harry’s head to get him to look at him, "So what kind of trick should I play with my little red riding hood?"

Two days after the eventful night with Harry, Tom had been in a good mood. As he was practicing his lines for the next scene in a horror film he currently working for, his agent came in the dressing room and slapped another script on the dresser.

Not even bothering to look, Tom said, "I'm pretty sure I'm already fully booked, Snape. I'm not accepting anymore roles this year."

"Hold that thought Riddle. This one is different! You know Gellert Grindelwald, right?

"Yes. He's a well-known script writer and almost all of the movies he produced ended up being a big deal." He also used to be associated with Albus Dumbledore until the two got into a big fight resulting in Grindelwald leaving UK for a long while.

"Long story short this is his new script and he personally wanted you to be cast as the protagonist."

"Really now. Why?"

“Ask your questions later after reading the script.” Severus said as he shoved the script to Tom’s face.

When he finished reading, it dawns on Tom that could be a long term movie project set in Germany. “We’ll have to be in Germany for at least 2 years.” he said to Severus. 

"Roughly yes. But you have to admit the script is great and is based on a book with an already large fandom. So it will pretty much be a big deal. In any case it's been a while since you starred in a big name film so this might be the perfect chance to expand your popularity."

Tom sighed and said, "I'll think about it..."

"Yeah. That’s what- Wait. What? I thought you would have accepted this immediately?"

"I said I'll think about it."

Not wanting to push Tom too hard, Severus yielded, "Alright. But they need confirmation as soon as possible because they plan on announcing the official casting call soon."

Rubbing his head in frustration, Tom pondered if this was really worth it. Tom was certainly ambitious that he would have normally accepted this job without preamble. Nonetheless Tom now has things he wants to consider such that in a way he is already at the peak of his career. But by accepting this role would mean he would he would have a much wider range of popularity but would have less time for other roles.

He’d also have less time with Harry. Tom thought taking things slow by courting and waiting for Harry to be more comfortable around him was a strategically sound plan. And it still is. But they already have trouble meeting in person and if he chooses to do this then he needs to make his relationship with Harry official to make sure pests won't try to snatch him while he's away.

Internally agreeing that he’ll need to move forward his plan with Harry, Tom requested to the director not to give him overtime today which he got an immediate okay. So Tom worked himself hard until the sun was going down and he was finally allowed to be excused.

When Tom arrived at the shop it was already dark. Putting on his disguise, he left the car to see Luna and Hedwig outside the shop talking to a man with slicked back blonde hair.

"Hello Tom”

“Good day, Luna.”

As he went closer to the group, the other man turned his head to stare piercingly at Tom with his gray eyes flickering with obvious disdain. "So this is Tom Riddle huh. Nothing special." the blonde remarked.

Out of instinct and after being treated with such insolence, this blonde man just shot up to the top ten people Tom absolutely abhors.

Ignoring the growing tension, Luna introduced the rude man, "Tom Riddle, this is Draco Malfoy. He is a magical being like us and was a close friend of Harry."

"Was?"

"Bugger off Lovegood. Harry just needs to see things in my perspective."

Luna made a face when she replied, "I don't think he ever will from the way you too argued yesterday. And I'm still not letting you meet Harry. On the other hand, Tom you can wait here with me."

"Has he been bothering Harry, Luna? Should I do something?"

Draco was fuming in anger when he snapped at Tom, "This may be the first time we met so I'll be direct. You're the one who's been messing with Harry, right?"

"I'm courting Harry not messing with him."

Draco scoffed loudly, "Courting? You say that but you dare lay your hands on him!"

“You speak as though I've been forcing Harry to spend time with me." Tom said

"You know what you did! I bet you manipulated the conversation by pretending to gentle, right? You must think that everything will go your way if willed it to."

It seems that Draco had spotted the kiss marks Tom left at Harry after the party. Twisting the conversation to his favor, Tom pointed out, "It's your fault for getting too close to Harry. Though I find it curious since I placed it an area where you shouldn't be able to see unless you were awfully close or was sneaking a peep."

"I did no such thing!"

"Really? It's hidden enough that Harry would not notice but noticeable to pests just like you."

"I know more about Harry than you do, Riddle. Didn't you know that he has been troubled about something recently? Harry has been looking tired whenever he spends time with you as though he is being drained. I bet you are just playing around with him because Harry's kindness makes him easy to fool."

"Is that really the case, Malfoy? No matter how concerned you are for Harry, at the end of the day it's useless. You can't touch him or even show your interest at him. You can't even get closer to him than I am since he has only ever seen you as a friend. Well ex-friend the information I got from Luna was right.”

“It is.” Luna interjected.

Tom continued, his eyes glinting in anger, “So don't even think about bothering him because all of him belongs to me and I wouldn't accept anything less."

"What nonsense are you spouting, Riddle! To say something so egotistic!”

"This is not a game for me Malfoy. I am serious about Harry."

Draco was trying to calm himself down when he asked, "Why must it be him? Aren't you some big shot actor, there must be many others you can have?!"

"You yourself know the answer why. Isn't that so, Malfoy? At the end of the day, this worry you’re spouting in the name of friendship is just pretense. Because the truth is you're just jealous."

Draco yelled in fury, "What?! That's rich coming from you!"

"Well just like I do, you desire him so much you can longer stand it anymore. But unlike me, you don’t have the guts to admit it to him. You're playing things safe, right?

"You're wrong!"

"Trying to attract his attention by doing the opposite of what he stands for. How childish for someone who thinks he's above humans." Tom mockingly said.

"You bastard! Where are you getting at?!

"I'm just warning you to keep your hands off Harry. To have you compare my all-consuming desire for him to your pathetic pretenses is an insult. If you have nothing else to say then you can leave."

"If you think you have the power-"

Luna who was quiet for most of the argument finally interfered, "That’s enough Draco. I've already told you to leave several times. And if his words aren't enough to make you leave then I’ll take that as you giving me consent to retaliate with force."

Sneering at the two, Draco left seething in rage, “I’ll be back for Harry.”

Tom closed his eyes and tried to envision his happy place to keep himself composed or else he just might hunt that man down and make his life miserable.

Luna who has been staring at Tom as though she is searching something in his face asked, "Do you want to see Harry?"

"Terribly so."

Luna smiled in amusement, "It’s as though you guys haven't seen each other for years."

"Sometimes it feels that way. It surprises me just how much possessive I feel for him. To desire him so much to the point that I want to see all his expressions of joy, sadness, anger… I might just easily destroy any partner of Harry with this overbearing jealousy of mine."

"I’ll allow you to go in then. It will be a good experience for you to witness just how much we are capable of."

"I thought-"

"It's fine really. You may black out for a moment since you'll be entering the simulation but you won't really be a bother as long as you don't sabotage the client."

As Luna was shoving him towards the open door, Tom felt her push him in the darkness. Before he could even get his bearing, Tom lost consciousness.

There were 3 things which Tom immediately noted when he woke up. One was that he was inside a freezer of what seems to be a giant grocery store. Two was that he was being surrounded by sausages. And three the sausages seemed to be moving and talking animatedly to one another.

"Oh wow. It seems we received another member to the family."

"What are you talking about?" Tom asked as he tried shaking off his disorientation. When he looked down at this body, Tom finally realizes that he too was a sausage.

"What the name of our new sausage companion?" a chubby sausage asked.

"It’s not any of your business so just leave me alone. I'm looking for someone." Tom said finally regaining his stance as he starts to walk away from the sausage family.

"You can't leave. You're a sausage! You can't mingle with the other products or you'll be sullied by the other side." the chubby sausage whispered.

"I kind of got that idea. And I don't really care."

"But it's better to be safe in here than to risk it all and have nowhere to go back. You can never come back here if you leave. They'll never accept our kind mingling with others."

Tom is starting to find it odd how these sausages are speaking as though they are trying to- Oh. Right. This was Percival Grave's scenario. It's odd though that Harry chose this kind of theme but Tom doesn't really know the entire picture yet except that Percival seemed to have love problems.

The sausages are beginning to protest when Tom persisted on leaving the freezer. Finally away from the noisy sausages, Tom began to ponder where he would be able to find Harry and what sort of anthropomorphic item he was.

Tom decided to walk towards the produce section when he heard a familiar voice.

Turning to the sound of the voice, he sees a curvy hot dog bun walk toward him. The fact that that said hot dog bun was Harry Potter made him hundred times more adorable.

"Tom! How did you get here?" Harry exclaimed.

"Well your partner Luna had pushed me inside the door saying it would be a good experience."

Harry laughed as Tom began to fully inspect his surroundings, "This is very strange."

"It kind of is, isn’t it?"

Staring appreciatively at his current appearance, Tom began pinching the softness of Harry's bun and said, "Even in this form you are still adorably smaller than me, Harry. Aren’t you a hot dog bun? How am I supposed to fit inside you? You'd end up feeling too fu-"

"Tom!" Harry scolded his cheek buns staining pink. 

The fact that Tom still feels the urge to kiss his frown away just confirms that no matter what appearance Harry seems to take form, he still finds him attractive.

"What are you supposed to do here anyways?" Tom asked.

"Well, this was supposed to be a basic representation of Percival's reality. So whatever path he chooses will manifest itself into the outside reality. Though Percival is having a shared simulation with someone else actually."

"Is it someone I know?"

Shaking his head, Harry replied, "No. He’s a relative of Luna’s boyfriend. And the two had already met earlier in the simulation which triggered an event. So now I've been following Percival to see if he manages to find and escape with Newt."

"Didn’t he say he found his feelings to be the problem last time?"

"Well yeah. When his family discovered his relationship with Newt it caused discord within his household and Percival also had falling-out with the elders. And yet had he stayed with the family of sausages from earlier it would have reflected more in his goal of going back to a time when his family still approved of him as the head of the house but in exchange, his relationship with Newt will be broken."

"But he left the place."

"He did. Doesn’t that make you wonder though if he’ll end up making the same mistakes again or will he forge a new path with Newt." Harry said. When the two finally found Percival, they saw the sausage relentlessly interrogate a loaf of bread that had the bad luck of coming across him.

"Percival what are you doing to that poor loaf of bread?"

"Ah Harry. I was just asking questions. It seems Newt was brought to the bakery section."

"I see. You couldn't have deduced that by the fact that he was a cinnamon roll?"

Percival grimaced, "At least we've got confirmation."

Harry only looked amused while Tom was smirking.

Changing the topic, Percival looked at Tom, "You've brought a friend? One of the sausages?"

"No. This is Tom Riddle. He is accompanying me today."

"Let's go then. I don't want to stay here too long."

On their way to the bakery section which was unfortunately on the other side of their current location, the group had ended up meeting different produces and items along the way. Each with their own personalities and personal opinions on Percival's drama.

When the tissue paper was weeping of his predicament of having to choose family or love, an age old wine gave a wise advice of him having to be the one taking charge of his family instead of being influenced. A rolling meatball told him to just find the balls to confess to his partner. A family of spices berated him for foolishly trying to enter into an engagement with another woman while he was still in a relationship just to please his family. And a taco straight up told him that he was drama queen.

"I'm not a drama queen." Percival growled to the sassy taco. "Sure you're not, meathead." she said saucily and left.

"And Harry must we really inform everyone we encounter of my dilemma?" Percival asked in frustration.

"Not really. I just thought it might help you see things in different perspectives."

Tom kept quiet but internally chuckled at Harry's scheme. Sure it’s for the new perspectives. But seeing them bluntly call out the damages of Percival's actions was gratifying.

Finally arriving at the bakery, Tom sees a cinnamon roll bread play with mini bagels inside the display. 

"Newt!" Percival rushed towards the cinnamon roll.

When Harry and Tom had caught up with them, the two were engaged in a heated conversation which quickly ended when Newt slapped Percival's meat face and run away taking with him the mini bagels.

"Oh my." Harry gasped. His adorable bun shifting back and forth seeming conflicted on whom to go first.

"He said something dumb." Tom deduced.

"He most certainly said something dumb." Harry confirmed.

The two went to Percival first who remained frozen still on the same spot Newt left him. "Percival?"

"I'm well aware how much of a fool I can be. But dammit it all…" he then quietly added, "What was even the point of this simulation? Why couldn't you have just given something that would hurt less?"

"But I did, I offered you the clock, didn't I? All you had was to push the button to reset your and Newt's love for one another. And you could have gone back to your duty to the family… But you refused."

Percival shifted uncomfortably at the reminder when Harry continued, "The only alternative I could give that would affect our reality but still give you some semblance of control was this simulation event where you could have easily just stayed in that freezer and learned to let go or venture out and fight for your own future." Harry said.

"Shouldn’t you be encouraging me to fight for love and to stop hurting Newt from the very beginning?”

"I can't directly help unless you ask, Percival. Our magic doesn't make us omniscient just that if you perceive love itself to be the source of your problem, then I can only offer you solutions that will tailor to your request. So if you think you will be better off without Newt even after this simulation then all you need to do is to press the button." Harry said as he offered him the reset clock once more.

Percival stayed quiet.

"We’ll go check on Newt, okay?" Harry told Percival.

But when they were about to leave, Tom took one last glance at Percival's direction only to see him clutch the clock tightly into his hands and display a look of determination that wasn’t there before. 

They find Newt alone while the mini bagels were playing with the other fruits in the produce section nearby.

"Sorry you got involved in this Harry." Newt said when he spotted Harry and Tom walk towards him.

"It is of no consequence, Newt. It's a shame this simulation was not fully utilized to its potential. Maybe I should take this off the shelves." Harry added after a pause, “Are you feeling alright, Newt?”

“Not really. I- I just want to be alone for a while to reflect.”

“Of course. Tom and I will do a quick check on the place before Luna ends the simulation. "

"Thanks for letting me try, Harry."

Seeing the relationship between Percival and Newt seemingly clinging to its last ropes, Tom contemplated. As he was walking side by side with Harry, he tried to envision a world where someone tries to take Harry away from him. And no matter how hard he tries he begins to understand that he can no longer imagine a life when he wasn't there. So Tom stops hesitating and speaks up, "You know Harry, it'd be nice if I were the only one who knows your kindness but since your compassion is immeasurable that makes it impossible... You seem to have become the center of my world so I'd be really happy if I can at long last call you my lover."

The nearby ketchup who eavesdropped on their conversation butted in, "Really boy? You sure that's how you want to go about your confession?"

Tom glared at the ketchup bottle for interrupting but saw his point, Tom turned back to Harry, "It seems I was too rash. Do you hate it? Do you hate me?"

Harry only pulled Tom closer, "While being in this place wasn't the scenario I had in mind, of course I don't hate you Tom. I love you so much that no matter what you do. I feel happy as long as get to spend my time with you." He then hugged Tom with his soft body against his as he continued, "Just what did you plan to do after making me fall for you?"

"For us to be stay together for a long time. I'm even willing to promise you many things as long as you choose me."

"With your and my job being time consuming, I won't be fooled by that." Harry teasingly said but then added, "It would be better if we learn to compromise."

"Well then if my actions won't be enough to prove to you," Tom paused and with his still sausage form, he had bridal carried Harry's fluffy bread bun body to bring their faces closer as he whispered, "Then I'll say it until you will believe in me. I like you Harry. I love you. I love you so much I-"

Harry muffled his words with his hand as he shyly replied, "I got it already. If you keep going my heart will feel like it's going to stop." Tom also noted something intriguing that despite their anthropomorphic bodies, he can still somehow hear Harry's heart beat so loudly just like his. 

The couple then catches the sound of the PA system cracking on as they listen to Luna give the announcement that the simulation is now over. Suddenly, Tom was enveloped in darkness and lost consciousness once more.

Tom woke up with his head on Harry's lap. While Harry was gently running his hand through his hair, Tom heard the familiar ping of Harry's phone as they read the notification.

_“Harry Potter, descendant of Gryffindor, you have just received payment from a human, SELF-UNDERSTANDING.”_

"He did not push the button then?"

"He did not. You were still asleep when they reconciled but it seems they plan on eloping so that his family can't force them apart. Apparently they'll cross the bridge when they get there. Newt was also vocal about wanting to have kids."

Sitting up more properly, Tom held Harry's hands and said, "But at least they are doing it together this time round. And I-"

"Before anything else, please hold out your hand, Tom."

"Okay." Tom gave his palm out to Harry who pressed a key to his hands.

"I'm well aware that your job may sometimes bring you to distant places that we may have to be in a long distance relationship for certain periods of time. So I want to give you the duplicate key to my apartment so that we can spend more time together whenever you're back here. And so you can just sneak-"

Tom feeling overwhelmed with affection kissed Harry fiercely on the lips and confessed once more, "For almost my entire life I never believed I can ever feel this much for someone and yet here you are proving me otherwise." His lips hovered above Harry’s and this time both of them moved at the same time to close the distance. And when they pulled apart, Tom added, "It's too late for you to regret it now. I don't think I can ever let you go, Harry."

"I know. And I'll only ever love you Tom."

* * *

**_I thought I'd be able to rest easy now that he is at last mine... But I realized that my greediness only makes me desire him more and more. It feels like there is no limit. Nevertheless, when I contemplate of this deep and bottomless desire and fleetingly feel unsatisfied, all it takes is just one moment for Harry to drown me in his love. Such that he does his best for me to no longer feel lonely by making sure whenever I come home I won't enter in a dark living room but with him greeting me warmly back home._ **

**_Whenever I retrospectively reflect about my life, I realize that there has never been anyone who thought so much about me in the past aside from Harry. So to think there would come a time where I would pride myself on the fact that I can love him more. But moments like these always exceeds my expectations. In the end, the depth of his feelings is something I can never measure so whenever I am granted of his freely-given love I drown._ **

**_I never knew that loving someone could be like this. It's not at all what I imagined but it without a doubt feels good… And maybe one day I can tell him that not only is he the most special person in my life but also my first and only love._ **

* * *

Finally, getting his well-deserved week long break from work, Tom entered Harry's homely apartment located above the shop. Leaving his travel suitcase on the side of the door, he followed the scent of a delectably savory food to the kitchen.

Seeing Harry wearing an apron around his waist and face flushed from the warmth of the stove, Tom unabashedly checked out his lover's behind. He would have wanted to immediately embrace him from behind but not wanting to startle Harry from his cooking, he announced his presence with a quick rap on the wall. 

"Tom, you’re home early! I thought your flight was tonight. I would have picked you up." Harry greeted him with a warm smile as he turned off the stove to give Tom a hug.

"I swapped tickets with a worker to get the early flight home."

While the couple remained in tight embrace, Tom was sneakily loosening the ribbon of his apron until Harry finally noticed and asked, "Why are you taking my shirt off?"

Tom responded by leaning his face closer to the point that his lips were hovering over Harry's ear as he began whispering what exactly he wanted to do with him.

Harry was bright red with Tom's lips still caressing his ear when he weakly protested, "I'm still cooking, Tom."

"It's fine since you already turned off the stove." Tom countered.

"And it’s still daytime... Aren't you tired as well from your flight?"

"Shall we move to our bedroom then? I want to make love to you whether it's day or night, Harry. And I've spent my entire flight resting just so I can spend my time with you the moment I see you."

Even burying his face in Tom’s chest did not hide the redness of Harry’s features. And when he saw Harry nodding his consent, without breaking a sweat, Tom carried Harry to their room as they spent their entire day indoors.

As for the next day, when Tom was the first one to wake from slumber, he gently caressed Harry's ring finger and began to plot how he’ll ask and convince Harry to spend his eternity with him.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for your time, dear reader.


End file.
